Evil Dead, It and the 15 greatest horror movie remakes of all-time
By Mads Lennon
10. Friday the 13th (2009)
Of all the horror movie remakes I’ve added to this list, this choice may well be one of the most controversial. The thing is, I never understood why.
Maybe I’ll always have a soft spot for the Friday the 13th remake because it was the first rated-R film I saw in theaters. I was 16 when I saw it, and it terrified me! Since then, I’ve enjoyed rewatching it. Color me surprised when I got into the online horror community and found out how hated this movie is.
Friday the 13th maintains the spirit of the original, but, if anything, amps it up by several notches. The kills are harsher, the deaths gorier, and Derek Mears is a fine actor. I enjoyed getting to see inside the twisted psyche of Jason, and Mears was the perfect actor to do just that.
Related Story. Interview: How Derek Mears navigated the role of Swamp Thing. light
No disrespect to the other incarnations of Jason, Friday the 13th is one of my favorite horror movie franchises, but the 2009 film broadens our horizons. A good remake should harness the integrity of the original and then add in something new.
Is the 2009 film rife with every horror cliché imaginable? Totally. But you know what other film was? The original Friday the 13th films. Many of them helped to create those tropes. It makes sense the remake would continue on that path.
Friday the 13th is an incredibly fun remake. It has some genuinely unique deaths (the sleeping bag dangling over the fire comes to mind) and a cheesy cliffhanger ending. What’s not to like?